Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Singapore state controlled newspaper the Straits Times online edition of Feb 28, 2012 has the story "1200 Singaporeans renounce citizenship every year". This was what Teo Chee Hean, Lee Kuan Yew's Minister said in Parliament a few days ago. Of this figure he said "300 are naturalized citizens". He also said about the reasons for such a huge number from such a small population leaving the island "the reasons for emigration vary. Some emigrants leave for family reasons.... while others leave for different living environment".

"Different living environment!". Wait a minute. Are you trying to say they are leaving because of the weather? I tell you why they leave. They leave because once they have heard of living free and independent lives in Australia and the rest of the world, they hurry to leave Lee Kuan Yew's paradise.

The numbers are worse than you think. The figure that he quotes, 1300 a year, is only that of the head of the household. If you include the wife and children, the numbers increase to about 3,000 if not more a year. These 3,000 are the very people Singapore needs the most, engineers doctors lawyers, scientists, mechanics, electricians, tradesmen of all sorts with all kinds of skills. And don't forget, the entire island only consists of about 2.5 native born Singaporeans. The rest are recent arrivals. These are intolerable figures for a small island state with a tiny population.

If given a chance nobody wants to live in an island where the rulers threaten anyone who criticizes with defamation lawsuits decided by corrupt compliant judges, bankrupted and impoverished merely for criticism; nobody wants to live in an island where there is no rule of law where judges carry out political duties to destroy opposition; nobody wants to live in a country where the entire media is under the control of the state; nobody wants to live in a country where even if you peacefully protested you will be sent to jail and finally nobody wants to live in a North Korea under the guise of being Singapore.

From the figures given you notice that as many as 300 are recently arrived immigrants turned citizens. What this means is this. Singapore is so unsatisfactory a place to live that even recently naturalized citizens give up their citizenship's the moment they find out what Singapore really is.

Singapore is still an attractive place for the Vietnamese rice farmer, the Chinese peasant from Hubei, the Bengali villager from the slums of Calcutta and the Tamil growing rice in Trichinapolli Tamil Nadu India. For them, regardless of how little human rights there are, at least it is a little better than the poverty of their countries.

In fact, with the human rights situation as dire as it is, they are the only ones who would come and be prepared to stay in Lee Kuan Yew's island. But how much the Chinese peasant from Hubei can contribute to Singapore’s image of an international city, it is quite another matter. You can't possibly have rice fields in down town Orchard Road.

I think Lee Kuan Yew and his Singapore are in a fix. They are on a descent from which they cannot recover. Imagine a Singaporean Chinese family who have recently settled in Melbourne Australia. When their children go to Australian schools they would for the first time in their life experience freedom. Their Australian teachers, who by the way are not afraid of the Australian government to be politically correct as in Singapore, respect their students and give their independence to think and form their own opinions. Unlike Singaporeans, they are neither Confucian nor confused. It is such a pleasant transformation that no Singapore student who has ever experienced life in Australia or the West would ever want to step into Singapore again.

What happens next? They tell their friends in Singapore as to how happy they are. They encourage their friends to join them in Australia, Canada, US, New Zealand and the rest of the free world.

You never know what they might end up as. As adventurers, athletes, mountaineers and men and women capable of telling Lee Kuan Yew and his son a thing or 2.

They might even turn out to be Gopalan Nairs and eternal pain in the neck for the Lee Kuan Yew family.

Gopalan Nair Attorney at Law Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court) Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar. Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1 Fremont, CA 94538, USA Tel: 510 657 6107 Fax: 510 657 6914 Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Monday, February 27, 2012

After about a week of threats from several members of the Lee family who run Singapore against a blogger TR Emeritus for statements they did not like, and making him apologize, beg and crawl, one thing is very clear. You can say anything you want of him outside his island without any danger of his ever suing you.

Holding the world record for the largest number of defamation suits in Singapore against his critics and the record of never ever having lost a single one, his complete indifference to anyone saying anything about him outside his island may come as a surprise to those ignorant of his island.

Why is his reputation so delicate within Singapore but completely unharmed outside?

If he sued you in Singapore, for the slightest criticism of him or any or any family members or his government, you stand no chance of ever succeeding in any legal defense whatsoever.

In fact Singapore is one unique country where the moment he has sued for defamation, you know you have lost without ever stepping into the courtroom. The only thing left to be decided is the amount of damages, precisely how many hundreds of thousands of dollars, which will depend on how much you cower, prostrate, lick his boots and show remorse for your crime (that is what criticizing him within Singapore amounts to).

Every single critic of his has had no chance at all. JB Jeyaretnam was either foolish enough or courageous enough depending on your viewpoint to challenge him. I am not sure of the exact figure but he has had to pay several millions dollars, bankrupted and sent to jail. If that was not enough he has since died. Another person whom I admire a great deal who has suffered the same fate in similar circumstances is Chee Soon Juan. Today he is jobless, bankrupted, disqualified from politics and unable to travel outside the island.

Besides individuals he has successfully sued both local and almost all internationally recognized foreign newspapers including the Economist, Time Magazine, the Financial Times, the International Herald Tribune, the Wall Street Journal, the Asian Wall Street Journal, the Far Eastern Economic Review and Asiaweek.

The common denominator in all these cases is this. They were all sued in Singapore in his courts. Not a single individual or newspaper was ever sued abroad with one exception. There was one case some years ago when he sued a Canadian newspaper over statements made by his former colleague and president, Devan Nair. I understand that the Canadian court promptly dismissed his lawsuit reminding him that the Canadian courts are not his Singapore Courts.

In all these cases, the reason he puts forward for suing is to protect his reputation. He says if he does not sue his reputation would be tarnished adversely affecting his ability to rule. If this were so, why is his reputation not affected at all when someone calls him a liar from aboard, whereas the moment he says it within Singapore, his reputation becomes suddenly tarnished?

It is not what people write about him that destroys his reputation and lowers his credibility. It is his double standard of claiming that his reputation is hurt when someone within Singapore criticizes him whereas his reputation is untouched when the same thing is said from outside.

What destroys him and his family members is acting like thugs employing compliant judges within Singapore to financially ruin you with million dollar damage awards, for exercising your freedom of speech within Singapore but portrays himself as someone without the same courage to go after anyone outside the island because he has no recourse to his corrupt judges to deliver the judgment he demands.

This is not the actions of a man who is trying to protect his reputation. It is the actions of a coward who goes against you because he can win, but does nothing when he is not so sure.

It is not me who is destroying the Lee family, it is the Internet. This blogpost is being read by thousands of Singaporeans within Singapore and worldwide, yet he makes no effort to sue me outside his island. Remember Singaporeans within Singapore can read this message just as anyone else.

The Lee family has lost all credibility. They have lost their moral authority to rule by my action alone. I have been able to say freely that they are a corrupt lot of people who steal millions of taxpayer’s money, $3.7 million a year to be exact and calling it a salary, give out top jobs, handouts and government contracts to their family and friends and make a mockery of the administration of justice for their personal interest.

And by the way, isn't your reputation hurt by what I have said which people in your island, many thousands of them, have just read? Or once again, are you not very sure of winning in a California court?

Gopalan Nair Attorney at Law Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court) Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar. Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1 Fremont, CA 94538, USA Tel: 510 657 6107 Fax: 510 657 6914 Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Singapore strongman Lee Kuan Yew and his family have been trying to defend the indefensible, demanding as truth the implausible and getting away with it through threats of defamation lawsuits which literally financially ruin you for sure. Take all the abuses of power that you see in the island as they are in Zimbabwe, North Korea and Cuba.

You have the complete prohibition of free speech, assembly and peaceful protests. You have the complete control of the press and media. You have the 5th column which literally hounds, harasses and persecutes anyone who is seen as unsympathetic to the government and any form of criticism is disallowed and punished.

Beside all this, take the one glaring abuse of power, which is paying themselves $3.7 million each a year. This is 4 times the salary of the President of the United States and several more times the salary of the heads of state of the richest European countries. There is a word for this. It is corruption.

But in Singapore, in order to justify it, Lee Kuan Yew comes up with an ingenious excuse that it is so because it is what top heads of companies get paid and therefore they too should therefore be paid this amount. But the problem is, they do not tell us who these mysterious heads of businesses are. As to the reasoning for this argument, they say that if they are not paid these astronomical amounts, they would all become corrupt. Therefore to avoid corruption Singapore's political leaders, should all be paid $3.7 million a year!

Lee can try to befuddle and confuse by these arguments, but even Singaporeans, so accustomed to submission and compliance would see the nonsense in this.

Firstly, if they will not be corrupt unless they are paid millions, they deserve to be in jail, not in politics. Second, there is no other country that claims politicians should be paid as businessmen should do. If they want lots of money, then they should be in business, not politics. And third, if they are using the income of top businessmen as a benchmark for their huge incomes, why did they not choose Bill Gates? In that case they should all deserve to be paid a billion dollars each a year, instead of a mere $3.7 million.

I tell you what this is. It is corruption. It is the best word in any English dictionary to describe this criminality.

But you notice, no one within Singapore has ever used this word to describe this without having faced a ruinous lawsuit. Which is why since the late JB Jeyaretnam and more recently Chee Soon Juan who have both been financially ruined through Lee’s weapon of choice, the dreaded defamation lawsuit, for their courage, no one since from within Singapore has ever dared use this word to describe the Lee family's goings on.

Which reminds me of George Orwell's Winston in 1984, which I read in Singapore’s prison while there for 2 months in 2008 for criticizing one of his judges in this blog. Winston had maintained that 2 plus 2 is 4 but eventually had to admit under torture that it may not necessarily be 4, it could be 5, 7 or 9 or for that matter any number of Big Brother’s choosing.

So too in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore of today. 2 plus 2 is not 4. Paying himself and each of his family members and friends at the top, $3.7 million a year is not corruption. It is a reasonable salary because Big Brother, or Lee Kuan Yew said so.

But what are the consequences of such demands on the people. Normal people, even Singaporeans can see hogwash when they see it. This is plain and simply rubbish. There is simply no reasoning in this. And therefore the people begin to lose all respect for Lee and his administration. Behind his back they giggle and laugh at him, mock and deride him and his family. They emigrate in even greater numbers from an island government which they no longer respect, deemed corrupt and dictatorial. They refuse to have children resulting in the island having the lowest birth rate in the world. Just as Zimbabwe which uses brute force to remain in power, they too stay with threats of defamation actions.

The island has been on this decline now for several decades. Outwardly they paint a rosy picture in their state controlled press claiming fictional and imaginary achievements. But in truth, piercing the veil, all you see is an island run by the Lee Kuan Yew family beside their defamation judges to maintain control.

Gopalan Nair Attorney at Law Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court) Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar. Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1 Fremont, CA 94538, USA Tel: 510 657 6107 Fax: 510 657 6914 Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

In my last post I wrote about the series of defamation lawsuit threats against a Singapore blog TR Emeritus in quick succession by the Singapore strongman Lee Kuan Yew's 2 sons for having defamed them by calling their present high positions of Prime Minister and Presidents of various government owned companies and agencies as a result of nepotism and cronyism.

Although it should be obvious to anyone that this is in fact the case, the Lee family prohibits anyone from saying so, and they will sue and surely win, as the sad history of Singapore's lack of freedom of speech record shows. They win by the simple expediency of appointing corrupt judges who will conveniently change the rules to fix government critics.

Just before Lee Kuan Yew's sons shot out their letters, another minion of his, Lee's Singaporean Tamil Minister of Law K Shanmugam had also written to this blogger not to disclose his extra marital affairs with a Singapore Chinese woman Foo Mee Har or face a defamation lawsuit.

Richard Wan, the Singapore based editor of this blog had understandably complied with the demands of K Shanmugam and Lee's first son, the Prime Minister, but had earlier refused to do the same in Lee's other son's case, that of Lee Hsien Yang, claiming at first that he will "vigorously resist".

I am sure when he said that, it must have been the best news one could ever have had. At least I thought that finally, someone, in this case Richard Wan had picked up the courage to stand up to this family of bullies.

But alas, it was too good to be true. The state controlled Singapore newspaper the Straits Times of Feb 24, 2012 reports "TR Emeritus removes post about Lee Hsien Yang". It says "Sociopolitical website TR Emeritus did an about turn on Thursday night and removed a defamatory posting about corporate chieftain Lee Hsien Yang from it's portal. It also expressed regret that Mr. Lee was defamed by the comment which had been made by a netizen. This comes less than 24 hours after TRE said it would vigorously resist Mr. Lee's demands".

Although regrettable that TR Emeritus has kowtowed yet again, if you knew Singapore, his action is understandable. There is no way in the world for anyone sued by the Lee family or by his cronies in Singapore and expect to come out unscathed.

It is one country in the world, except erstwhile Stalinist Russia or present day Communist China, where TR Emeritus editor Richard Wan knows even before he steps into the courtroom that he has not only lost, that he will be ordered to pay millions in damages which he does not have, and promptly thereafter will be bankrupted and if his luck is really bad, even jailed!

Under these odds, it is not surprising that Wan has apologised. In fact if it would have pleased the Lee family, he would have even done the somersault, bent over backwards, rolled over and done the twist; whatever they wanted.

Wan's capitulation yet again did come as a bit of a damper at the end, but what else do you expect in Lee's Singapore, a place that holds the world record for the largest number of defamation actions filed by him and another record for never having lost a single one. In fact I think they are entitled to a third record of the largest number of bankrupts and financially ruined souls consequent on Lee Kuan Yew's defamation lawsuits.

A day later, in Lee's Straits Times of Feb 25, 2012 there is thearticle "Sociopolitical website TR emeritus to continue operating". According to it, Richard Wan of TR Emeritus after all these apologies and kowtowing has said "Right now we have to do the responsible thing and carry on running the website. We have readers and we do not want to let them down".

To Richard Wan who wants to continue the website, I will ask the question, what for? There is no shades between the truth and a lie. Either it is true or it is not. If Richard Wan has to go on moderating the truth to please the Lee Kuan Yew family, then what he is going to say will simply no longer be the truth.

After all it is true that these appointments of Prime Minister and various top appointments for Lee's children are entirely because of nepotism. Anyone can see that. And if Wan not only has to say that this is not the case but to apologize as well, it will be turning logic upside down.

If Richard Wan is going to comply with all the demands of the Lee family, then it would no longer be a blog which fights for the freedoms of Singaporeans; it would in fact be another state controlled media.

Let me reiterate this. I am not faulting Richard Wan for giving in the Allmighty Lees. I fully understand the police state in which he lives and the limits to which he can go.

But having said that, TR Emeritus already exercises a great deal of self censorship so as not to offend the Lees, a very moderate blog as compared to those in the free world. If they have to go any further and exercise even more moderation, in truth it would no longer be recognizable as a voice for for those yearning freedom. It had better close.

Gopalan Nair Attorney at Law Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court) Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar. Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1 Fremont, CA 94538, USA Tel: 510 657 6107 Fax: 510 657 6914 Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Singapore state controlled newspaper the Straits Times of Feb 23, 2012 has the story "Lee Hsien Yang sends lawyer's letter to TR Emeritus". This is the latest in a series of recent threats to government critics to sue them if they didn't stop, as reported in my blogs of yesterday and the day before.

Now, the brother of the Singapore Prime Minister and son of the Singapore strongman Lee Kuan Yew, Lee Hsien Yang has threatened the same blogger with the excuse that he "is determined to protect his reputation", the usual lame excuse in the island to stop all criticism.

But this case is not appearing to go as smoothly as the others. Recall about a week ago, the Singapore despot's Tamil Minister for Law K Shanmugam had threatened to sue the same blogger for revealing his womanizing adultery with another Singaporean Chinese, the ethnicity of his choice when it comes to his escapades or rather more correctly described as "sexapades". The helpless blogger, at least so far, immediately complied and apologized.

2 days after that the prime Minister had threatened the same gentleman with a lawsuit because he had suggested that appointing the Prime Minister's wife as the head of the national wealth fund Temasek, smacks of nepotism. He apologized again.

And now, just a day later, this new threat from the other son.

This time surprisingly for Singapore when at the slightest threat of a defamation lawsuit by these people, even the most courageous of persons would roll over immediately and do the hop skip and jump if demanded, things are appearing a bit different.

Frankly being timid in the face of these bullies is quite understandable. With all the judges in the island beholden to the Lee Kuan Yew family to say and do anything as they want, resistance would be suicidal as the living examples of such punishment grimly reveal. Chee Soon Juan has been repeatedly sued, bankrupted and jailed just for criticism. If he was guilty, his only guilt was his refusal to submit to the Allmighty Lee Kuan Yew family when demanded.

When in the entire history of Singapore, the Lee family have never lost a case; when this family hold the world record for the largest number of defamation cases ever filed and won; and when respected international organizations have repeatedly condemned the Singapore judiciary as nothing but Lee Kuan Yew lackeys rather than judges, no one in his right mind would dare to resist a threat of a lawsuit from them in their island.

Well, up till now.

Now we have a David proudly standing up to a Goliath, or so it seems. For the first time in history after Chee Soon Juan, Mr. Richard Wan appears to have finally said no. According to the newspaper report he says he is “going to resist”.

If he is indeed going to do it, I say to Mr. Wan that I, and I am sure millions of other people in Singapore and worldwide are with you.

I fear the Lee family has made a mistake this time, if indeed, Mr. Richard Wan will resist.

There is a unprecedentedly large groundswell of Singapore simply hating this regime, which pays themselves millions, hands out financial contracts to friends and family, uses nepotism, cronyism and corruption to enrich themselves while squeezing the ordinary man of every penny he has. And what is worse of all, silencing all criticism through the law courts using corrupt and compliant judges for the dirty work.

I am not sure who said this, but at some point, if sufficiently pushed to a corner, even the mouse will roar like a lion. If what I read is indeed true, and if Richard Wan, this humble blogger is indeed our Singapore mouse, this mouse has finally roared like the lion.

This recent surge in threats of defamation actions by the Lee Kuan Yew family, in my opinion, is because they have finally begun to fear the increasing threat of the Internet.

It would not be wrong to say that throughout the island, almost to the man, the Lee Kuan Yew family is dreaded.

The only reason why there is no rebellion is because they are threatened with lawsuits, arrest and impoverishment. The Lee family probably fears that if the Internet is not silenced, this hatred will begin to grow and eventually get out of hand.

But I think there is here the biggest mistake. If indeed Wan decides to stand his course, the Lees would have to take it to court. And undoubtedly these compliant judges will give the award to the Lees and Wan will be bankrupted and impoverished.

Whether or not the ordinary Singaporean would once again just stand idly by this time as they have always done in the past or will there be even more dissatisfaction beyond the tipping point of a rebellion, only time will tell.

So far if you asked me the score for now, I would say Richard Wan 10, the Lee family 0.

Gopalan Nair Attorney at Law Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court) Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar. Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1 Fremont, CA 94538, USA Tel: 510 657 6107 Fax: 510 657 6914 Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Singapore's state controlled newspaper the Straits Times of Feb 22, 2012 reports "Temasek Review Emeritus apologizes to PM Lee". It follows from my last post of yesterday. Lee Kuan Yew's son, who was appointed Prime Minister by his father had threatened to sue this blogger if he did not take down a post which had accused him of cronyism for appointing his wife to run a Singapore wealth fund comprising the citizen's savings.

According to this story, within 24 hours, this blogger did whatever Lee's son wanted. He promptly took the blog post down and apologized.

It says "In Wednesday's apology, TRE noted that the letter had clarified the process of Madam Ho's (Lee's daughter in law) appointment, saying "In light of the information made available to TRE, we would like to offer our sincere apology to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong".

There can be no doubt the Singapore government headed by Lee Kuan Yew and his son is run on cronyism, nepotism and blatant corruption. The Prime Minister himself was appointed by his father Lee Kuan Yew who has been ruling the island since 1959 without interruption. Fidel Castro of Cuba I believe is the only other leader who has a similar record.

And the son has appointed his wife, this woman Ho Ching, to run the island’s largest government wealth fund.

If this is not cronyism, nepotism and corruption, I want to know what it is.

Of course in any other country in the world, this blogger would have stood up to these bullies and defended his claim and would in all likelihood have won. But then you are not talking about any other country. This is Singapore where the judges willingly and routinely double as politicians to abuse the law to silence critics. In fact in the entire history of Singapore these 2 bullies who run the island and everything else, have never lost a case against anyone.

With this sort of a record, this blogger would be committing hara-kiri if he stood up against these bullies. He would become the latest in the line of bankrupts who were naive enough to defend themselves. I am sure anyone in Nazi Germany would have done the same and apologized had he received a lawyer’s letter from Adolf Hitler's lawyers. If not, either the concentration camp or the firing squad.

The consequence of all this is not a belief that father and son don't practice nepotism. It is an affirmation that they not only practice nepotism, cronyism and corruption, they are cowardly bullies as well.

The winners in this are not Lee Kuan Yew and son. It is this blogger who had no choice but to surrender in a totalitarian state which bullies it's citizens to stay in power.

But this blog of mine is being read daily in Singapore. And I suppose both father and son read it as well. If you are wondering why they don’t come after me, it is this.

Singapore Dissident is hosted by American Internet organization. To block it would mean their persuading them to co-operate which they are unlikely to do, because it would mean an open admission that they censor the web.

Therefore being left with no choice, they do nothing. As for suing me in California, they know it is going to be difficult. This place has the rule of law and bullies have no advantage. So as you would expect of any coward, the father and son team stand idly by, but not so in the case of this blogger because he, unlike me, is helpless in Lee Kuan Yew's island.

Gopalan Nair Attorney at Law Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court) Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar. Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1 Fremont, CA 94538, USA Tel: 510 657 6107 Fax: 510 657 6914 Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Merely 2 days after Singapore strongman Lee Kuan Yew's handpicked Law Minister had threatened a blogger with a defamation lawsuit for revealing his adulterous affairs, now his son, the Prime Minister has done the same, also over a blog.

Singapore state controlled newspaper the Straits Times of Feb 20, 2012 has the story "PM Lee sends lawyer's letter to editors of TR Emeritus (a blog)". This time it is over an article which pointed out that his father appointing him Prime Minister and he in turn appointing his wife chief of the nation's wealth fund Temasek is nothing short of "cronyism" and nepotism.

His lawyer, Davinder Singh who has never lost a case, because the judges there are nothing but Kangaroos, has demanded not only that the post be taken down, he has to also post an apology failing which, he has threatened to sue and we know what this means in the Singaporean sense.

He will win regardless of any law and the poor blogger will become Singapore's latest bankrupt.

Sometimes I wonder what goes on in the minds of this father and son Singapore leadership when they repeatedly resort to these defamation lawsuits for which they hold 2 world records, one for the largest number of them, and secondly for not having lost a single one. Why do they do it in this day and age?

Look at the facts. Lee Kuan Yew placed his son as the prime minister. His son then appoints his wife Ho Ching as the wealth fund chief which holds Singaporeans compulsory savings. If this is not nepotism, then what is it? Is Lee Kuan Yew trying to say that in the entire island, noone else has the qualities for a prime minister other than his son? And is the son trying to say that there was no other person qualified to run the wealth fund other than his wife?

Their defamation actions against their helpless citizens can be compared to this. It is like someone committing theft before your very eyes but prohibits you from saying it under pain of a lawsuit which they are guaranteed to win.

And the other thing these bullies should consider is this. This is the Internet Age. If they can sue helpless Singaporeans in their defamation regimen, will they sue someone like me writing from abroad? I guess not. But then if the purpose of these defamation actions are to stop writings critical of them being read in Singapore, is he not aware that this blog is also being read in Singapore which by the way happens to be far more critical than those timid souls who do it there with extreme caution?

By their refusal to sue me or others outside Singapore, they in fact confirm their weakness in any of these cases, which everyone can see with their open eyes.

Several organizations and observers of Singapore have repeatedly pointed out that this continued practice of suing anyone who criticised and impoverishing them through a compliant judiciary has extreme negative consequences. For one foreign governments and people would avoid having business dealings with the island because of the perception of a corrupt and unreliable judiciary which favors the ruling party.

Educated and capable people able to leave the country would do so, outraged at their blatant abuse of powers. And there would be many other far reaching consequences that would not be in Singapore's benefit.

And last but not least, you can destroy the thinker but can you destroy the thought. Just as Martin Luther King had said, you can destroy the dreamer but cannot destroy the dream. In fact it would have been far better if this man did nothing. By threatening to sue, we now know that cronyism and nepotism were the reasons for his appointment and that of his wife.

Gopalan Nair Attorney at Law Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court) Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar. Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1 Fremont, CA 94538, USA Tel: 510 657 6107 Fax: 510 657 6914 Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Singapore today like many former Stalinist regimes is principally driven through fear and the less desirable aspects of human nature. This sort of government is by it's very nature inherently weak and unstable and is not suited for real long term success.

Take my last blog post on the Minster for Law K Shanmugam. You will notice from that how powerful the fear factor is. The moment someone had written about his extra marital affair in a blog, the next minute came the lawyer's letter demanding a retraction which order was promptly followed because people in Singapore can no longer rely on their court's impartiality. As everyone knows, when a man such as this sues someone, a Singaporean would know the verdict even before he steps into the courtroom. Why then can I write all this? It is because he is not very sure either of the merit of his case or as to how much he can rely on foreign judges.

The problem is this. The island nation is almost entirely dependent on one man, Lee Kuan Yew, an iconic stature which he has managed to cultivate by himself through self praise in his state controlled press. This is the case with every other dictatorship in the past. Libya was Gadaffi and Gadaffi was Libya. And so was Mubarak, and every other dictator both in power as well as overthrown. This sort of thing tends to alienate the population from him leaving only those few cronies at the top left supporting him for the money.

Then if you add on the other things such as a state controlled press, a government manipulated judiciary absent the rule of law, nepotism, abuse of power and all manner of political abuse, you find that the entire population begin to hate the government for what they are; resulting in good people leaving the country or withdrawing support and co-operation entirely.

Of course one of the most debilitating and serious consequence of this sort of an administration is that they eventually lose the moral authority to rule entirely and if they are still in power, it is only because of the fear in the people's minds of their government and what they will do to them if they disobey.

Finally the only people left in the city state are those who only possess the less desirable traits of human nature. The cronies at the top earning million dollar salaries do it for the money. They would have sold their mothers if the price was right.

The same for the higher and middle echelon of workers, everyone seen to tow the line and comply, as if Singaporeans had only one opinion, which is the same as that of the government. I am not sure what you call people such as this who through fear hide their real opinions for a living, perhaps they are pretenders. But whatever you may want to call them, surely these are not people whom one would look up to.

The best people, those Singapore needs the most are also the most qualified. They also happen to have the qualities that one would aspire in any other situation, such as courage, loyalty and altruism. But these qualities are in fact an impediment in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore. So after thinking it over a little most of them leave Singapore permanently taking their wives and children with them to start a new life in the West.

The consequences of such unwise actions by this government are far reaching. One such consequence is the falling birth rate which is the lowest in the world. People are not marrying and the native population as a result is completely dying off.

To remedy this, the government brings in populations from overseas whose main purpose of coming is to make a buck just as any other person would go to Malawi or Nigeria to work for a few years. There is no intention in any of them to sink roots and stay.

Lacking dedicated men an women works against these countries in times of crises. You would recall some years ago that the population of the Emirate of Dubai almost emptied out during the recent recession. People were driving their cars to the airport and leaving it there with the keys in the ignition to take the next flight out. Of course when things got better, they came back.

Singapore now is in the same situation as Dubai except that the consequences of crises would be multi fold that of Dubai. At least Dubai has an unlimited amount of oil money. Singapore has nought.

I think the problem is that Lee Kuan Yew with all his claim of over the radar vision and so on, got it completely wrong. Fear driven regimes may have worked in the past minus worldwide mass instant communication. I suppose he could have never even dreamt that in 2012, Gopalan Nair could sit in Fremont California, thousands of miles away and yet involve himself in Singapore's domestic politics.

The Internet has become a far too powerful tool that cuts down these tin pot tyrants who in the past could have got away with murder. It is no longer possible today.

This is a very bad time for Lee Kuan Yew to die now. Having very successfully created that iconic figure for himself where everything depends on him alone, dying now, (he is going to be 90), would completely throw Singapore into the greatest unimaginable disorder. Since worshipping the leader has been the way in Singapore, it is difficult to know who is going to be the new iconic figure because there is no one yet.

As if these problems are not enough, Mother Nature has also come into the attack with increasingly ferocity with knee high flooding in the business district. Surely banks would not want to operate there if it means constantly mopping up the floors and replacing drenched files after the floods. It's like having to deal with Hurricane Katrina every other day. Businesses are probably going to leave the island irregardless of whether or not Lee Kuan Yew dies.

As for really dedicated Singaporeans it is not true to say there are none. There are a handful like Chee Soon Juan, whom you can count on the fingers of one hand. But under Singapore's Orwellian Groupthink, he is a criminal who has been repeatedly bankrupted and sent to jail. Therefore the people, those that stay behind, are told to shun him and keep him out of the public eye. Instead these bootlicking womanizers like K Shanmugam are touted as model citizens.

These sort of problems do not exist in the West because in spite of the vagaries every country faces, at least their citizens respect their government and their legal system. They do not have to tailor their thought process to appear pleasing to the government, to survive. They have constitutions and the government and the people respect it. It is not the garbage document that Singapore has.

In the end, respect begets respect. People stay behind through ups and downs progressing steadily in their professions and their duties to the country. Singapore does not have people such as these because Singapore is based on wrong principles. Being a coward and kowtowing to authority, doing unconscionable work because it is profitable are some of the traits that one needs to succeed in Singapore. Since Singaporeans know this, this means ever more people leaving the island leaving behind only those who are temporarily there to make a buck.

A very unstable foundation for any country large or small.

Gopalan Nair Attorney at Law Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court) Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar. Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1 Fremont, CA 94538, USA Tel: 510 657 6107 Fax: 510 657 6914 Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Friday, February 17, 2012

K Shanmugam is a Singapore Tamil, handpicked by the island's strongman Lee Kuan Yew as it's Minister for Law. He seems to have a history of extra marital encounters especially with Singapore Chinese women, the race he prefers over his own Tamil women.

Singapore state controlled newspaper the Straits Times of Feb 15, 2012 details the latest of his sexual conquests. In the story headed "Blogger erases comment after minister sends lawyer's letter". In it, this Minister playboy had sent a lawyer's letter to a Singapore blogger Alex Au demanding that a comment on his blog yawningbread.worrdpress.com be brought down or else he will sue for defamation of character.

The facts are these. In one of Alex Au's blogs lately, Scroobal, writing incognito said the following:

“I take the points raised in the above two comments. Indeed, I think the role of the mainstream press in this issue needs to be contrasted with the relative silence when it came to allegations swirling around K Shanmugam and Foo Mee Har at various points in the recent past. That there were rumours is widely known, though as in the Yaw Shin Leong case, no one can point to any proof. But that’s not my point here. My point is that the mainstream media’s interest in the Yaw affair does not look like neutral journalism."

The rumors are that Lee Kuan Yew's playboy minister has been having an ongoing affair with another of his women colleagues, Foo Mee Har, also a Singapore Chinese woman, a fact which is common knowledge in Singapore.

Since there is no freedom of speech to speak of and Singaporeans live under a very rigorous defamation regime where judges abuse the law at will to punish anyone who criticizes the government, there is no way in the world for someone to mention this fact openly, leaving Singaporeans to rely on rumours and innuendo, which under the circumstances are usually very accurate.

There can be no doubt that this Tamil playboy minister has been at it again given his proclivity for being a adulterous Romeo.

His reputation for sexual conquest upon Chinese women has a long history. It all started as long ago as a decade, to the days before he was handpicked to do Lee Kuan Yew's bidding. Then he was working in the law firm Allen and Gledhill and besides the law he was having a very active extra marital curriculum with Chinese women, his race of choice.

This was pointed out to me in comment to my blogpost dated Wednesday, November 24, 2010 "Alan Shadrake's Judge, Loh Sze On Quentin's biggest folly". (Please read this post in this blog)

Anonymous said... Who are the people left to do Lee bidding? See this chap's history taken from SBF.

After reading Shanmugam's explanation I am really upset as he is obviously treating us like idiots. Well here is tit for tat.

This is the type of caliber that we have in govt and a cabinet minister at that. This prick was married to the daughter of an SC. While working in Allen and Gledhill, he began an affair with a Chinese colleague. He was having a right royal fling and had no qualms about visiting the various watering holes with her. His favourite lunch hangout was a coffeeshop run by Glen Knight near Hong Lim Green where he and his lady will be busy petty themselves silly oblivious to a wall mounted mirror and that people were watching.

When the wife and her family came to know, our dear minister hatched what he thought was a cunning plot. He duty rostered his Indian lawyer underlings to escort the lady every lunch time to suggest that this Chinese lady prefers the company of Indians. And he was mistaken for one of his staff. Being subordinates, our lawyers and officers of the Supreme Court had little choice but to accept.

So how did the the in-laws finally nail the prick. Obviously they did not hire ISD.

To cut a long story short, after the divorce, he was told to find a wife, so that they can make him a minister. So a quick bang instant marriage was arranged and in a month the marriage was done in Chennai.

The affair is not the issue. The ethics behind forcing his subordinates to escort his girlfriend around is pretty much sub-standard.

Thu Nov 25, 02:15:00 AM PST

I am sure Lee Kuan Yew's Singaporean Tamil playboy, Rodolfo Valentino, is becoming an increasing embarrassment for the squeaky clean image that the government puts out to justify their million dollar salaries. Especially in these times when it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to keep up the front of perfection, with daily flooding, massive emigration, no birth rate and daily suicides, should they not take some real action to improve their image?

Perhaps it is time to show him the door.

Gopalan Nair Attorney at Law Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court) Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar. Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1 Fremont, CA 94538, USA Tel: 510 657 6107 Fax: 510 657 6914 Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Singapore's state controlled newspaper The Straits Times of Feb 16, 2012 has the story "Judges do justice, not politics: Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong". The article states "Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong on Wednesday responded to critics who charge that judges here make decisions that tend to favor the Government". "He said the Singapore courts have never shirked from the judiciary role of checking on legislative and executive acts when issues of illegality are raised."

As if saying this much was not enough, he goes on to say that "Singapore courts have never shirked from the judiciary role of checking on legislative and executive acts when issues of illegality are raised" and 'the judiciary is aware of it's responsibilities as the third arm of the state. Whatever their personal persuasions, judges do not let political considerations influence their decisions"

To put it bluntly, the Singapore Chief justice is simply a callous unscrupulous liar.

When a Chief Justice of any country has to go out and say this, it raises suspicion immediately. You don't hear the Chief Justice of California having to go out and make a speech and claim this, since that is what judges are supposed to do anyway. I believe that the Chief Justice of Singapore has come under so much criticism internationally (by the way he does not care one bit what locals think since they are after all mere "digits" as his boss Lee Kuan Yew has called them) that he has begun to feel the pain. In fact when some judge of any country has to make a statement like this, people tend to believe the very opposite, which happens to be true by the way, that his judges do exactly what he claims they do not. They are politicians, not judges.

They have always followed the Communist Chinese principle of "justice" (please see my earlier post). They administer it according to the "3 supremes". In any case before them, the first consideration is the supremacy of Lee Kuan Yew's Peoples Action Party, just as in China, it is the Communist Party. The second "supremacy" is the interests of the state, which means China or Singapore as the case may be. The last supremacy is, not surprisingly since it is Singapore we are talking about, is the lowest in the hierarchy of priorities, which is the interests of the litigants.

JB Jeyaretnam, an arch political rival and a threat to Lee Kuan Yew's rule was repeatedly sued, bankrupted and jailed and eventually met his death all because he challenged Lee Kuan Yew's rule. Even though everything he did was entirely lawful, Singapore’s corrupt judges, to please the Lee Kuan Yew government destroyed him. This was not law, it was politics. These were not judges administering the law impartially. They were politicians sitting as judges to destroy political opponents.

Chee Soon Juan today is another victim of these disgraceful men and women sitting as judges to further the ends of Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore government. Just as JB Jeyaretnam he was repeatedly sued suffering millions of dollars in damages, bankrupted, sent to jail and disqualified from politics all because he had the gall to go against Lee Kuan Yew and his government. When Lee's judges did this dirty work, they were not acting in a judicial role, they were acting as Lee's hit men to finish him off.

When Tan Liang Hong, another victim at the hands of Lee's judges contested the 1997 elections and accused Lee of corruption in the purchase of Jade Mansion condominiums when he and his entire family received preferential treatment at the expense of the taxpayers, which happed to be true, these same judges slapped damage awards in Lee's defamation suit against him amounting to millions of dollars, hounded Tang with arrest and imprisonment, resulting in his having to flee for Australia. This wasn't law, it was a disgrace.

When I demanded of the Attorney General of Singapore an explanation of his actions in respect of JB Jeyaretnam in 1991, Singapore’s judges had me suspended from practice for 2 years claiming that I had "threatened" the Attorney General. One of the judges in that case was the Tamil Indian, GP Selvam, a disgraceful man who has since retired from the bench and makes a living now as a lawyer working on Singapore government contracts. That was not law. That was punishing me because I had displeased his master.

Also at the 1991 elections when I stood as the opposition Workers Party candidate for the Singapore constituency of Bukit Merah, I had made a rally speech pointing out that the manner in which lower court judges were appointed by the Legal Service Commission, a branch of the executive, gave the impression of bias and that it should be changed. Nothing at all wrong with that. Yet Lee's disgraceful judge TS Sinnathuray doing his dirty work to please Lee Kuan Yew found my speech in contempt of court because according to him, these words were "contemptuous of the Singapore judiciary". That action was not law, it was a disgraceful act of misusing the law to please their political masters.

In fact the biggest disgrace to the rule of law in Singapore is this man himself, Chan Sek Kiong. Please read my blog January 12, 2010 "Singapore's Chief Justice, Chan Sek Keong disgracefully and shamefully abused the law" (http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/2010/01/singapores-chief-justice-chan-sek-keong.html).

Briefly the disgraceful facts are these. In 1997 Chan was Lee's Attorney General. That was the year of elections in Singapore. At Cheng San Constituency, it was discovered that Lee Kuan Yew's son, and 2 other senior government ministers were found inside the elections polling station there.

This was a violation of Singapore’s Parliamentary Elections Act, which prohibited politicians from approaching within 200 meters of election polling stations, designed to prevent political interference upon citizens casting their votes.

When JB Jeyaretnam complained about this to the Attorney General (Chan) he came up with his "brilliant" argument. His argument was that Lee Kuan Yew's son together with his colleagues had committed no wrong since the law prohibited any politician from coming within 200 meters of a polling station. But since in this case, they were found actually within it, there was no violation! Tell me, if this is not twisting the law and turning it into a comedy, what is it?

This man’s speech reminds me of Bashar Al Assad of Syria telling the international media yesterday that his troops are not killing anyone in Homs while we can all see with our very eyes in the news, in videos and reports that he is massacring them. I guess there is a reason for Assad to deny massacring anyone just as the Chief Justice of Singapore has to deny abusing the legal system to please his political masters.

Gopalan Nair Attorney at Law Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court) Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar. Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1 Fremont, CA 94538, USA Tel: 510 657 6107 Fax: 510 657 6914 Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Monday, February 13, 2012

In earlier times Singapore was an English speaking former British colony, with the rule of law, the English language and equality between the races. Also it's people were protected from indiscriminate immigration from abroad as it is now. If matters were left alone, Singapore would have found it's own direction. It's lingua franca and customs and practices would probably have been more Western than Asian, and the different races would have been able to develop under their own steam. Perhaps today, Singapore would even have been predominantly Malay instead of Chinese and there would have been a much larger and more vibrant Indian community with all races equal and mutually cordial.

Singapore was indeed the Gibraltar of the East as the British used to call it.

Today Singapore is very different. Over the last 50 years Lee Kuan Yew an ethnic Chinese himself has had other plans. He was dead bent on making Singapore not a multi cultural country but a predominantly Chinese city with Chinese language, culture and traditions at the expense of Indians and Malays.

People were encouraged to speak Mandarin, radio television and other media were told to increase Chinese broadcasts while that of Indian and Malay was suppressed. Over the last decade plane loads of Chinese immigrants from Communist China were brought in to make sure that the Chinese population is increased even further while that of others declined.

Today we have about 78% or 80% Chinese population while that of Malays have declined to something like 13% while the Indian population has shrunk to no more than 8%. If current trends continue, these figures are going to decline even further to perhaps 10% and 5%. Even today it would be wrong to call Singapore a multi racial country. It is in fact a Chinese city with a miniscule Indian and Malay minority.

The opposition parties especially the Singapore Democratic Party and the Reform Party shows off their highly talented Malay and Indians members and aspiring politicians. In the Reform party, the chief himself is a non Chinese, part Indian and part English, the son of the late JB Jeyaretnam himself.

In today's Singapore which is predominantly Chinese, I wonder whether these non Chinese are wasting their time trying to achieve political office. With a divided racial city where the Chinese are in the overwhelming majority, regardless of how good you are at making speeches (in English that is), none of these people have the slightest chance of succeeding. In the first place, most of the Mandarin speaking population would not even have understood you and even if they did, why should they vote for a non Chinese person whom they know little or nothing about (remember the state media gives no coverage to opposition politicians).

If they ever had a chance, it has to be in a group constituency where they are elected by virtue of their Chinese colleagues being elected. In other words, a Malay or Indian political aspirant can only hope to play second fiddle to his Chinese Singaporean politicians, even though he has the highest possible qualifications.

True, it is often said that that JB Jeyaretnam, a non Chinese opposition politician not only won but increased his lead the second time. But the circumstances then were very different. I know because I was there. JB Jeyaretnam (he only speaks English) never spoke alone. Whenever he did, it was with his colleague in the Workers Party Low Thia Khiang next to him. Low spoke first in Chinese and then JB Jeyaretnam. It was Low telling the Chinese to vote for the Indian! If Jeyaretnam won, the credit goes as much to Low Thia Khiang's brilliant Chinese oratory as to JB Jeyaretanm's speeches in English, which I suspect many didn't even understand.

The phenomenon of the late JB Jeyaretnam is unlikely to be repeated. For one, Singaporeans today are made up more of foreign Chinese imports who know nothing of Singapore's history let alone anything about JB Jeyaretnam. Being recent immigrants they would understandably vote for the Lee Kuan Yew's PAP to show their appreciation. And as we speak even more Chinese immigrants are being brought in making it progressively more difficult for the non Chinese oppostition politicians.

Looking at the hard work being done by these Indian and Malay men and women on the ground, highly trained British and foreign educated dedicated men and women, I have to say it breaks my heart. In a normal playing field, they would have deserved to win hands down. Among them we even have PhDs and Oxbridge graduates. Their qualifications are excellent. The only problem is their ethnicity. They are not Chinese and that is an impediment in a Chinese Singapore.

I do not have any solution for them. Sadly, the only thing I could say is that it is their own fault. Malay and Indian leaders did nothing and stood idly by, while Lee Kuan Yew went about aggressively for an entire decade bent on turning it into a Chinese city. Well, as the wise man said, if you do nothing,this is what happens. It is too late now.

They can of course now attend crash courses to learn Chinese. But doing that would demean them instead of instilling confidence as it would be seen as an acknowledgment that Singapore is indeed a Chinese city, not an English speaking one.

This is my advice to PhDs and foreign trained non Chinese professionals who are working with the opposition to bring about change. I congratulate you. However as the racial cleansing in the island continues, you really don't stand a chance. What you have to do is to aggressively stop the rot. Take to the streets, peacefully and demand that you are treated as equals, stop the immigration of anymore Chinese and demand real equality for all. Unless you are prepared to do this, I am afraid, you are probably wasting a very valuable life.

Gopalan Nair Attorney at Law Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court) Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar. Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1 Fremont, CA 94538, USA Tel: 510 657 6107 Fax: 510 657 6914 Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Singapore's state controlled newspaper The Straits Times of Feb 10, 2012 has the story "Singapore banks seek exemption from US compliance rules". It says "DBS (a Singapore bank) chief executive Piyush Gupta said that if banks had to go through with all the compliance activities in the United States, the costs could be quite prohibitive"

It refers to the US demand that under the "US Foreign Account Compliance Act (FATCA)which will require Singapore financial institutions to look for and report American Account holders or face 30% withholding tax on American investments from 2013".

Gupta further says "Some of the provisions are clearly to my mind extra judicial and extra territorial and they wind up with a huge cost impact on international financial institutions".

Prior to this, the US had gone against Switzerland, in particular it's UBS Bank forcing them to reveal American account holders who have not paid US taxes or face prosecution. UBS gave in, and made a deal with the US Revenue Service which resulted in some prosecutions. Since Switzerland has come clean, it seems some of these Americans have moved their dirty money to Singapore who are now facing the same consequences as the Swiss.

It appears from this newspaper article that Singapore is trying to avoid the same fate of the Swiss by arguing firstly that what US is doing is unlawful because it is "extra jurisdictional" and "extra territorial". Secondly they are arguing that it is is "too costly" to comply.

I am not sure what went on in the head of this man Piyush Gupta, but let me assure him that the Americans are not as stupid as he thinks. Let me tell him that there is nothing "extra jurisdictional" or "extra territorial" for any nation to go against tax avoiders anywhere they are. They are simply criminals which entitles the USA to go after them even if they were on the Moon. Second, the issue of costs has never been a consideration when it comes to apprehending criminals, and the USA is not going to allow this Lee Kuan Yew minion to get away with it, costs or no costs.

Personally I have always believed that trying to survive on vice is not a very reliable living, which Singapore does. It relies on gambling (2 casinos), legalized prostitution in Singapore's Geylang District, money laundering and tax evasion as it's principle sources of income. It appears now, at least the days of it's illegal activities of money laundering and tax evasion are coming to an end. The Americans are at their heels.

Gopalan Nair Attorney at Law Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court) Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar. Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1 Fremont, CA 94538, USA Tel: 510 657 6107 Fax: 510 657 6914 Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Singapore's state controlled newspaper The Straits Times of Feb 13, 2012 has the story "More Singaporeans not mentally ready for babies:Poll". It says that "while money tops the reasons why Singaporeans are not having more babies, another factor- being not mentally prepared is proving a growing barrier". It says "about 2 in 5 polled last year said they were emotionally ill equipped to have children compared with just 3 in 20 in 2010." It says this is the second most cited reason by couples in a recent survey while the other reasons were "time, career and the lack of quality affordable childcare support".

Although it is well known that dictatorships with state controlled newspapers use it for propaganda purposes by putting forward all sorts of rubbish to advance what they conveniently claim are in their national interests (propoganda), but even so, this time they appear to have gone a little too far. Mentally not ready for babies? Really?

Why then are parents all over the world who are having children, in Europe, in America, in Latin America, in Asia, who all appear to be "mentally prepared" but for some inexplicable reason, Singaporeans are not?

Why is it that in decades past, in the 1950s, 1960s, and the 1970s they were all "mentally prepared" because then they had lots more babies then, but suddenly in Singapore, as the birth rate has dropped to the lowest in the world, the latest reason given by this state controlled press is a total surprise, "mental unpreparedness"! Thats a new one!

I tell you why Singaporeans are not having babies. It is not "mental unpreparedness" or any other nonsense. It is simply the refusal of Singaporeans who are now increasingly educated and sophisticated to have babies in an island which they are increasingly beginning to dislike, a dictatorship under Lee Kuan Yew without any rights, where you have to listen to such rubbish on a daily basis from a state controlled media, where you have no freedom of speech or expression and where the law is used to silence dissent.

These are the reasons why thousands upon thousands of educated Singaporeans in an already tiny island with a tiny population continue to emigrate to Australia and the rest of the Western world and that is why Lee Kuan Yew is compelled to bring in plane loads of Communist Chinese who know no English to replace the talented local Singaporeans who have left.

And it also because of blogs like these Singapore Dissident which continues to write about the general dissatisfaction of Singaporeans to their government which they read , which encourages even more to leave the island for their and their children's future and why no one is having any babies. Singapore continues to have the lowest birth rate in the world.

Gopalan Nair Attorney at Law Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court) Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar. Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1 Fremont, CA 94538, USA Tel: 510 657 6107 Fax: 510 657 6914 Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

The Economist Magazine of January 28, 2012 has the article "Who goes to the gallows"

http://www.economist.com/node/21543593

It describes China's attitude to the law. It follows the "3 supremes" principle in deciding cases. The first supreme principle is the supremacy of the Communist Party. The second, the public interest and only third is the interests of the law. China's Chief Justice, Wang Shengjun is not even a lawyer!

At least Communist China has the courage to tell it as it is. It is no secret that the interests of litigants in any case is in fact the least important of priorities. What is most important, they state openly is the interests of the Communist Party. Regardless of whether one would agree with such a legal system or not, at least you have to give it to the Chinese. At least they dare to admit to what they do.

Which is why Lu Xiabo, Nobel Prize recipient, Ai Wei Wei and scores of other dissidents are languishing in jail on trumped up charges, merely for demanding human rights.

Singapore in reality is no different from Communist China for abusing the legal system, except in one sense they are even worse. At least China has the courage to openly admit their system is principally there to protect the Communist Party and not the legal rights of the parties in the case. Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore does not even have the courage to admit that.

In fact Singapore's whole legal system is a sham. If you were to visit Singapore's courts, you would find high sounding slogans and legal maxims both in Latin and English written proudly on all the walls on the virtues of the rule of law. You will also find Singapore's lawyers looking all solemn and wise, in legal black clothes, dragging along briefcases bulging with books and files as if to give the impression that what goes on within those walls is in fact the rule of law. Nothing can be further from the truth.

Strongman Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore courts are no different from that of the Communist Chinese. For decades now civic minded citizens who care of the betterment of the island, model citizens and leaders, such as JB Jeyaretnam, Chee Soon Juan, and a litany of others have all suffered under "Lee Kuan Yew style rule of law". They have all been punished jailed and destroyed, just as the case in Communist China, to further the interests of Lee's Peoples Action Party and their lame excuse that all this dirty work is done in the interests of the state.

JB Jeyaretnam and Chee Soon Juan are not threats to the interests of Singapore. In fact there can be no better asset to the island than them.

Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore administration is in essence a dishonest cowardly administration which like Communist China uses the law to ensure they continue in power. This may work for some time in China with a billion people. I am not sure how long this dirty business can go on in Singapore with much more informed and connected Singaporeans with access to the Internet and the public knowledge of how low this government continues to stoop in their own interests. Singapore's size does not allow the abuse of the legal system to go on for too long. It presently has only about 2.5 million native Singapore population with another 2.5 million recent immigrants, making about only 5 million in all. To make matters worse, Singapore has the lowest birth rate in the world and one of the highest rates of emigration.

An altogether unenviable position for Lee Kuan Yew and his Singapore who survive on law abuse.

Gopalan Nair Attorney at Law Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court) Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar. Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1 Fremont, CA 94538, USA Tel: 510 657 6107 Fax: 510 657 6914 Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Singapore strongman Lee Kuan Yew's one principle purpose throughout his 53 years in control has been his total determination to keep his people ignorant of their Constitutional rights because the moment they demand it, is the time he loses his total grip over them. He is a man who is either unwilling or unable to engage in a democratic process with contending groups as is the case in democracies around the world. Being a weak leader which he is, he must have dictatorial powers over his people, because that is the only way he can govern, and for it to work, the more ignorant his people the better.

The Constitution of Singapore is as good a document as any other in the world. It gives the universally recognized fundamental liberties to the people of Singapore similar to the rights enjoyed by American, Englishmen, and Australian. Under it, Singaporeans have the right to free speech, expression, assembly, a free press and the rule of law. But in truth Singaporeans don't have any of it. Every single one has been diluted or removed entirely leaving Singaporeans with no rights at all.

But the fact that Singaporeans do in fact have these rights and the fact that they have been removed are things which the average person has no clue about.

Students are not taught the Constitution in schools, law students at Singapore Universities are deliberately not taught this subject or are deliberately misinformed, while at the same time, people who criticize, peacefully protest or agitate are all arrested sued and bankrupted.

In the end, the average Singaporean goes away thinking that it is illegal to criticize or protest or in any way challenge the government. Having successfully brought upon this blanket of fear and the belief that engaging in any of such activity is illegal, Lee Kuan Yew can effectively do whatever he wants whenever he wants with impunity.

In other words Singaporeans as a people are both ignorant and misled about who or what they are.

This fact is seen in the Lee's being able to do away with all basic fundamental liberties of his people without any objection whatsoever. There was no protest at all against his nationalizing the press, his abusing the courts as an instrument of political control, and his criminalizing any form of criticism or peaceful protest. If the people had known their rights, they would not have sat idly by when every single of these human rights were taken away. But they did, because they never knew they had any in the first place.

If Lee Kuan Yew truly believed in Singapore's interests, he would have known that an enfranchised educated population is necessary to advance the state. An ignorant people are an impediment and a handicap in this purpose.

Today, Singapore's population is weak as a people. They are incapable of understanding that their participation is necessary for the country to advance. It is not enough to let Lee Kuan Yew and a few of his friends at the top decide everything for you, because if so, they would decide things in their interest, not yours. In any case, any true citizen would want to be an active participant in his nation's progress.

Today, Singaporeans are so fed up with what is going on that they have completely decoupled from the government. They no longer care what happens to their country since their opinions don't count anyway. This leaves Lee Kuan Yew to decide where to build, how many buildings to build and every other possible decision that you can think of, while ignorant Singaporeans who are unaware of their constitutional rights just go along for the ride.

Fed up, neglected and a mere digit, as Lee Kuan Yew called his citizens in the past, they find life uninteresting, living like a caged animal. So they decide not to have children, with Singapore having the lowest birth rate in the world; they decide to leave for settlement abroad, with Singapore having the highest rates of emigration in the world; and to replace the people either leaving or dying off, Lee Kuan Yew brings in planeloads of Chinese immigrants from Communist China who know nothing about Singapore, let alone the Constitution.

Lee Kuan Yew does not have any foundational basis in running his island. There is no Constitution, no independent judiciary nor do the people have any rights whatsoever. He merely does what he wants whenever he wants and the ignorant people of Singapore who have been successfully kept for 53 years in the dark simply go along with it.

Gopalan Nair Attorney at Law Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court) Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar. Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1 Fremont, CA 94538, USA Tel: 510 657 6107 Fax: 510 657 6914 Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

You cannot fail but read the self praise, the self serving accolades that one sees daily, as one might expect of state controlled newspapers, such as Singapore's Straits Times. But someone knowing the island a little better like myself will see that all this is just that much window dressing, nothing more.

The men who lay claim to Singapore's so called achievement, Lee Kuan Yew and Son, are nothing but 2 very afraid people, who are so afraid of 2 ordinary Singaporeans, Chee Soon Juan and his sister, that he has to have them totally destroyed lest they unseat them. And any man who can rule only after stooping so low is not worth a second look.

Chee Soon Juan is a former professor who had the temerity to stand against Lee Kuan Yew's politics. Consequently, Lee had him removed from his job, repeatedly made to pay court awarded damages in the millions, repeatedly jailed and bankrupted. Today he and his sister who has suffered the same fate are also banned from travelling outside Singapore and disqualified from politics.

Lee Kuan Yew, it appears, is so mortally afraid of Chee Soon Juan and his sister that he had to completely destroy them to stay in government. Frankly all his achievements, if in fact there were any, are completely negated if it is achieved at this cost, of shamefully misusing the courts to keep out 2 ordinary people.

And then there is so much talk about Singapore having a large per capita GDP, the best airport and the best shopping mall, claims which we do not know if true or just made up propoganda. But even if they were true, none of this is of any use to the average Singaporean.

For instance having the best airport is of no good to the average Singaporean who hardly has any money to live comfortably let alone take flights out to foreign countries. Recently there was a mysterious report by some so called French survey which claims that Singapore had the best shopping mall. Even if it was true which we doubt, it is of no use to the ordinary Singaporean since the shops are all luxury stores selling Gucci and Pierre Cardine, objects totally beyond their reach. Then we have the talk of high GDP when we know that such figures mean nothing to the ordinary man since it is made up from the incomes of some very rich people such as drug lords who are given residence in the island.

Then we know of the other serious problems eating away at Singapore, such as the lowest birth rate in the world, very high rates of emigration, ever increasing frequency of flooding and train breakdowns across the island. These are matters that the government should publicly admit and seek solutions instead of pretending that they do not exist, and behaving as if the all propose remedy is to merely bring immigrants from Communist China in even larger numbers.

You can see why this government dare not do anything to address these issues, and prefers to go on as if nothing has happened. It is because Lee Kuan Yew is such man that is so afraid of facing his opposition head on that the only thing he is capable of doing is to destroy them completely. He knows no other way to remain in control.

And although he can see that the causes of the almost non existing birth rate and the high emigration rates is because of the stifling political climate, he dare not allow political freedom for fear that it will destroy him. So he does what any other insecure dictator will do, he punishes criticism and abuses the courts to achieve this end.

And because of his all consuming fear under which he lives, Singapore itself is being destroyed by the relentless and mounting rates of emigration and the birth rate simply refusing to climb no matter what. And while this damage is being done to Singapore, he further damages it by changing the very character of Singapore by bringing in ever larger planeloads of Communist Chinese immigrants who are incapable of contributing to Singapore one bit. These immigrants are not the answer to Singapore's problems. The answer is to allow more political space for it's citizen's but Lee appears incapable of facing it.

Gopalan Nair Attorney at Law Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court) Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar. Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1 Fremont, CA 94538, USA Tel: 510 657 6107 Fax: 510 657 6914 Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Singapore state controlled newspaper the Straits Times of Feb 7, 2012 has the story "Wage dispute resolved after 200 workers stage protest in Tampines". It talks of an hitherto unimaginable peaceful protest of construction workers who had successfully demonstrated over their wage dispute. What is surprising in the Singaporean sense is that they were not only not arrested, they even got the wages they were demanding!

My taking the trouble to writing this would itself come as a surprise to those who are unaccustomed to Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore. After all what is the big deal about a few workers peacefully protesting over their grievance; surely it is something we see everyday. Wrong. It is not like that in Alice in Wonderland Singapore. There protests whether peaceful or otherwise are illegal, period. If you wish to protest, you have to have a permit, and the irony is, even if you applied you won't get one. In other words protests are simply no,no, in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore, at least up till now.

If you understood Lee Kuan Yew for the sort of person he is, protests are not allowed because in a tiny crowded island like Singapore, a one man protest can turn into a thousand man protest in no time, and when that happens, he is afraid he might lose his pants. After all he pays himself millions through corruption, he gives personal favors to his family members through corrupt practices, he disallows normal democratic freedoms enjoyed by people around the world. In other words he is not a very popular figure in his own island. Fearing the worst, brought on by the insecurity he naturally feels, he criminalizes every form of protest.

But this latest protest about wages by these foreign workers may be forcing Lee Kuan Yew to realize that he can no longer strut around like that prize rooster, forcing him to accept the fact that foreigners unaccustomed to these silly laws will probably break them more often than not. And what is worse Singaporeans too may will be emboldened and follow suit. And that time is going to come sooner than you think.

We know that these workers were not arrested. We also know that they got their wages. And if these workers can protest without a permit, what is there to stop Singaporeans from protesting too? Should we not expect young Singaporeans yearning for a freer democratic Singapore to protest more important things such as the right to free speech, the right to assembly, the right to a free press, and the right to be free of tyrants and dictators such as Lee Kuan Yew. Can this not be a precursor to an Arab spring, no to a Singapore spring?

Can we not expect a young Singaporean to want to enjoy the same rights as a young Australian or a young German would have? Can we not expect them to be taking to the streets soon in peaceful protest for the litany of injustices that are upon them?

Remember under the law in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore, the only place that you can protest without a permit is Speakers Corner in Hong Lim Square. These Bangladeshi heroes did not do it at Speakers Corner. Therefore they were required to have a permit which they did not.

So my call to young Singaporeans is again to do it now. Organize a peaceful protest at Raffles Place during lunchtime for the freedoms that you demand. And see if Lee Kuan Yew would arrest you, because if he did, then surely he would face even more embarrassment from what he is already facing now. One law for Bangladeshi workers and another for Singaporeans in their own country? It would look as if Singapore treats Bangladeshis more favourably than their own citizens. Let's see if, in this day and age, Lee Kuan Yew would dare.

Gopalan Nair Attorney at Law Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court) Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar. Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1 Fremont, CA 94538, USA Tel: 510 657 6107 Fax: 510 657 6914 Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

Friday, February 3, 2012

The Singapore state controlled newspaper the Straits Times of Feb 4, 2012 has this story "Shrinking population will hurt economy, says Lee Kuan Yew". It relates to a speech Singapore authoritarian leader made to his Tanjong Pagar constituents yesterday for the Chinese New Year.

In it, he talked about the need to continue increasing immigration into Singapore because the birth rates of Singaporeans have been falling even further. And by immigration, he means exclusively Chinese immigrants from Communist China, never mind the fact that here are other races in Singapore too, who may not be altogether happy in this headlong rush to turn Singapore entirely into a Chinese city.

But other than this fact that such immigration would cause the other races to be cheated by the Sinozation of the island, such a course of action which has been continuing for some time now, is unwise and deleterious to it's well being.

For one, just because the birth rate is falling, you don't simply go to another country and import millions of them into Singapore. It upsets the way of life of native Singaporeans, deprives locals of jobs and changes the socio cultural character of the country entirely, causing the very character of the island to become something else entirely.

For instance, Singapore had a British background being a former British colony. English was it's principle language and Singaporeans looked to Western Europe as their model, not to Communist China. Also, Singapore's economy is hooked to the Western world, not to China and the Chinese language.

Lee Kuan Yew's deliberate policy of transforming Singapore into another Chinese city on the pretext that it's birth rate is falling is a fraud upon native born Singaporeans and an impediment for the future growth of the island.

He goes on to say in his speech that if they do not bring in these huge numbers from China, fewer people would mean fewer business for shopkeepers, and fewer business possibilities.

Surely, just because you will lose some business due to a falling population does not mean that you have to go out and do this. The government should instead address the problem and look into why this is happening, and then find a solution. They should ask themselves why even the European countries that traditionally had a low birth rate have now begun to produce more babies, like Australia which has a much higher rate than Singapore. Perhaps the reason for Singapore's problem lies in it's bad governance. Perhaps it is because the people do not want to raise families in a country run by a despot, where there are no fundamental rights like other civilized countries.

If you looked at this situation, you can see why it is completely wrong. For example, if the island of Vanuatu in the Pacific with a population of for example 500,000 has a shrinking population, you don't solve the problem by going out to Hawaii and bringing 2 million Hawaiians to settle in Vanuatu. By doing this you completely change the character of the island, let alone the fact that you would be upsetting many natives of Vanuatu by this unwelcome influx of foreigners.

Then there is the problem of their loyalty. You simply cannot expect that foreigners will stay in the interests of the island in hard times. I can imagine at the first calamity that Singapore faces, these characters would be the first ones to pack leaving Singapore and Singaporeans in the lurch.

And this last possibility is very real, especially since Singapore is now facing the so far insurmountable and new problem of flooding which is almost certain to get worse by the day. If the island of Singapore is going to face serious island wide flooding on a weekly basis, Chinese nationals would be the first ones to leave Singapore. You cannot expect them to have any loyalty to Singapore, an island to which they arrived yesterday to make a buck.

Of course in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore, none dares to challenge him, regardless of how wrong you can see he is. Noone would dare to challenge Kim Jong An in his North Korea. Doing so can result in all sorts of dangers to yourself. So Singaporeans keep quiet while Singapore's dictator drives the island into the dirt.

Gopalan Nair Attorney at Law Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court) Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar. Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1 Fremont, CA 94538, USA Tel: 510 657 6107 Fax: 510 657 6914 Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.

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About Me

Determined to find the Truth.
Born Singapore, educated Winstedt School 2 (next to Monks Hill in Newton, Singapore) Raffles Institution, National Service, some travel in Europe, then law studies England, return to Singapore, practiced for 10 years, active Workers Party member, stood elections 1988 and 1991 in Singapore, was harassed and persecuted by Lee Kuan Yew for my political beliefs, left for USA, obtained asylum and admitted California State Bar, practice law ever since in Fremont California near San Francisco. Relinquished Singapore citizenship 2005 because I was not prepared to permit Lee Kuan Yew to unjustly retain my CPF funds if I remained Singapore Citizen. On principle, the only correct thing for me to do was to give it up, for my CPF funds. I am an American Citizen as of 2004.